Advocacy & Lobbying

A summary

The African Union strategy on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) 2018-2028 which was launched during the AU Summit February 2019 is based on an inclusive and multisectoral approach and builds on the lessons learned from the 2009 gender policy. It is transformational in that its outcomes aim to mitigate, if not eliminate the major constraints hindering gender equality and women’s empowerment, so that women and girls may participate fully in economic activities, political affairs and social endeavours.

The GEWE Strategy is a framework document to strengthen women’s agency in Africa and ensure that women’s voices are amplified and their concerns are fully addressed through, among others, effective implementation of legislation and proper financing of gender equality work. It is a guiding document on the implementation of the AU’s GEWE commitments and is to be used to design transformational programmes that bring results for African women and girls on the continent and in the diaspora.

The strategy has four pillars and each pillar outlines outcomes and proposed activities that should be implemented in furtherance of that specific pillar.

• Pillar 1 focuses on maximising opportunities, outcomes and e-tech dividends. It recognises, amongst others, that for women to be economically empowered, and to be able to effectively contribute to sustainable development, they must have access to quality education and control over productive resources. The GEWE strategy proposes to mount a continental campaign to declare “illiteracy a harmful traditional practice and make “out of school” a punishable offence; and to advocate for and lobby e-Tech firms and financial institutions to fund start-ups and innovation hubs which promote gendered solutions and increase women and girls’ equal and effective participation in the technology space.

• Pillar 2 focuses on dignity, security, and resilience and recognises that the rights of women and girls to dignity, security and bodily and psychological integrity are often compromised when women are subjected to violence and violations, which often times happen in the context of violence against women and harmful traditional practices such as early-child marriage and female genital mutilation. The GEWE Strategy proposes to implement AU guidelines on Ending Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) and fund national projects to penalise VAWG.

• Pillar 3 highlights the need for effective laws, policies and institutions. Whereas Africa has made progress in progressive laws and policies and institutions to promote and protect women’s rights, there is still a huge deficit when it comes to effective implementation and gender machineries remain among the weakest public institutions at a time when they are needed the most to push the gender agenda forward. The GEWE Strategy proposes to design and implement a new initiative called “All for Maputo Protocol Programme”, which will support the full and universal ratification, domestication and implementation of the Maputo Protocol.

• Pillar 4 focuses on leadership, voice and visibility. This pillar recognises that for women to have a voice, they need to be equally represented in all areas of decision-making and be able to participate with impact, through the removal of all forms of barriers. The strategy proposes to integrate gender in the rewriting of the African narrative. The former AUC Chairperson, H.E Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, once said, “If we don’t put women in history books, they get edited out of history”. WGDD has also prioritised knowledge development and management and will be publishing a number of products: among others, A State of Women’s Rights report in Africa, A Historic African women’s booklet documenting the stories of the African women who gallantly fought in African liberation struggles.

Reah here the full article published by the African Union on 19 March 2025.

Image by African Union

Iranian authorities have escalated their crackdown on women’s rights defenders, journalists, singers and other activists demanding equality or who defy compulsory veiling using arbitrary detention, unjust prosecution, flogging, and even the death penalty in a bid to quash Iran’s women’s rights movement, Amnesty International said today.

Since International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March, the Iranian authorities have arbitrarily arrested at least five women’s rights activists. These arrests come amid an intensified crackdown that has included summoning women’s rights activists and journalists for interrogation, and arresting women singers for performing without the mandatory hijab while shutting down their social media accounts. In the lead up to IWD, the authorities flogged a male singer 74 times for performing a protest song against Iran’s discriminatory compulsory veiling laws and, in February 2025, sentenced a women’s rights activist to death.

“In the wake of the Woman Life Freedom uprising of 2022, the Iranian authorities consider the widespread defiance of women and girls demanding their rights as an existential threat to the political and security establishment. Instead of addressing systemic discrimination and violence against women and girls, they are attempting to crush Iran’s women’s rights movement,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Regional Office.

“Ahead of a key UN Human Rights Council session tomorrow to deliver findings on the human rights situation in Iran, and in the context of the Council’s ongoing negotiations to extend the mandates of the Special Rapporteur on Iran and the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, the international community must stand up against impunity and for the rights of women and girls in the country.

Read here the full article published by Amnesty International on 17 March 2025.

Image by Amnesty International

69th Commission on the Status of Women

Interactive Dialogue: Participation, accountability, and gender-responsive institutions

18 March 2025, UNHQ, New York

Statement by International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance

Excellencies,

International IDEA firmly believes that gender equality is essential for democracy, and that democracy is essential for gender equality. One cannot thrive without the other. However, we are deeply concerned about the global backlash against both gender equality and democracy, threatening hard-won gains over the past decades.

Women must have an equal voice in leadership and policymaking at all levels and across all sectors. When women hold power, governance becomes more inclusive, transparent, and effective, leading to stronger policies on economic growth, education, health, and climate resilience—all critical to achieving the 2030 Agenda.

However, achieving gender equality demands gender-responsive democratic institutions. Parliaments, electoral bodies, political parties, civil society organizations must actively dismantle barriers, create space for women to lead, and integrate gender perspectives to:

•    Ensure inclusive policymaking that reflects the needs of all citizens.

•    Strengthen democratic accountability and public trust.

•    Combat discrimination, bias in political financing, and gender-based violence in politics.

The 69th session of CSW is a critical moment for Member States to reaffirm their commitment to accelerating progress on gender equality. But this commitment must go hand in hand with putting democracy at the heart of UN discussions. Democracy is the most powerful instrument to advance gender equality. It is therefore deeply disappointing that Member States failed to reaffirm the essential link between democracy and gender equality in the political declaration approved last week.

International IDEA remains committed to working alongside the UN, Member States, and civil society to ensure that gender equality remains central to the future of democracy and sustainable development.

Thank you.

Statement delivered by Ms. Rumbidzai Kandawasvika-Nhundu, Principal Adviser, Democracy and Inclusion, International IDEA

Taken from International IDEA  - published on 18 March 2025.

Feminism in South Asia has been a powerful force for change, but it continues to face significant challenges. In this special International Women’s Day episode of Unraveled, Marvi Sirmed explores the state of women’s rights in South Asia with Syeda Hameed – Scholar, former member of the Planning Commission of India and Women’s Commission, and women’s rights advocate, and Khushi Kabir – a veteran Bangladeshi women's rights activist, environmentalist and Director at Nijera Kori, an organization that fights for the rights of the poor. Together, they discuss key issues such as gender-based violence, political representation, economic empowerment, reproductive rights, and the growing backlash against feminism. They also delve into why women-led governments in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan have struggled to dismantle patriarchy and how religious nationalism fuels gender oppression. Tune in to hear insightful conversations on the intersection of politics, religion, and patriarchy in South Asia, and the ongoing fight for gender justice across the region. 

Click here to see the full video published by The Friday Times on 13 March 2025.

Image by The Friday Times

Guest Editors
Roopa Dhatt, MD, MPA, Georgetown University, USA
Anna Kalbarczyk, DrPH, Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health, USA

Submission Status: Open   |   Submission Deadline: 7 December 2025

BMC Public Health is calling for submissions to our Collection on Women's role in politics and public life. We invite research that delves into the role of women in politics and public life, focusing on their leadership, participation, and the challenges they face. We welcome studies that examine gender equality, women's rights, and the impact of women's economic participation on public policy and health outcomes, with the aim of fostering a more inclusive political landscape.

Click here to apply.

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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Confronting a rising backlash against women’s rights, the U.N.’s 193 member nations made a commitment Monday to accelerate action on more than a dozen fronts to achieve gender equality.

A political declaration adopted at the start of the annual meeting of the U.N.’s preeminent body promoting equality for women and girls recognizes that men and boys must be “strategic partners and allies” to achieve the goal.

The declaration — approved by consensus and a bang of the gavel by the chair of the Commission on the Status of Women — coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Beijing women’s conference where the world’s nations adopted a 150-page roadmap to achieve gender equality.

While it recognizes progress toward implementing the Beijing platform, the declaration also recognizes that after 30 years no country has achieved gender equality and that progress has been “slow and uneven,” with major gaps and obstacles to overcome.

A report released last week by UN Women, the agency focused on empowering women, found that nearly one-quarter of governments worldwide reported a backlash against women’s rights in 2024. Its policy and program director, Sarah Hendriks, told a news conference the number of countries reporting a backlash is likely underreported and reflects “an increasingly hostile environment.”

Read here the full article published by AP News on 10 March 2025.

Image by AP News